Category: High School

—By David Rogers. HUDSON, N.C. — Finding different ways to win basketball games can add up to a good season. In opening Northwestern Conference play for the 2022-23 season with a dominating win over South Caldwell, 60-34, Watauga found a third star on Jan. 6.

The Spartans’ starting lineup featured 6-foot (plus), very athletic post player in Lillie Bumgarner and, from the get-go, it was apparent that South Caldwell intended to leverage her height advantage. While the Pioneers jumped out to an early lead, thanks largely to 8 first quarter points from Charlotte Torgerson, by focusing their offensive attack through the post the Spartans were able to even things up at 11-11. Bumgarner tallied seven of those points.

A key defensive adjustment and strategy paid dividends for the Pioneers going forward.

“Bumgarner got going early, in the first quarter and that was critical for them,” said Watauga head coach Laura Barry after the game. “The adjustment that had to be made was for us to either start scoring more or stopping her, or some combination of the two. We knew we wanted to press at some point in the first half. Clearly there are some teams that don’t want that pressure. I thought Caroline (Farthing) with her quick hands at the top of our zone was effective, but our press disrupted them even more. We (extended our lead) off their turnovers.”

Watauga senior Brooke Scheffler drew the defensive assignment of guarding Bumgarner and even though the Spartan junior scored 20 points on the night, without Scheffler’s efforts the damage to the Pioneer scorebook would have been much worse and that was not lost on Barry afterwards.

“Brooke does a really good job every night, defensively. She is big inside for us. Some people forget how much of a difference maker that is, but I love it that she is also shooting the ball with confidence,” said Barry.

In fact, Scheffler proved to be double trouble for the host Spartans. While limiting Bumgarner to just 13 points for the final three quarters on the defensive end, Scheffler was also making a difference on the offensive end, exploding for a game-high 22 points on the night, including three 3-pointers from beyond the arc.”

But it was a night that almost wasn’t for Scheffler, who is committed to play Division I college volleyball for Furman University. Her night against South Caldwell was almost cut very short because she was poked in the eye within the first couple of minutes of play.

“She got poked in the eye really hard,” said Barry, “and we were actually thinking she wouldn’t go back in tonight but she put in a few eyedrops — and she is tough. As a team we spoke about toughness before the game and she lived it tonight. She came back, ready to go.”

Was she ever. Re-entering the game, Scheffler poured in 13 of the team’s 23 points in the second quarter as the press and capitalizing on turnovers led the Pioneers to outscore South Caldwell, 23-6, in what proved to be the game’s pivotal period.

“We needed (Brooke) in this game. We didn’t need her to score 22, but we needed her because of what she brings to the floor. She exceeded that. (Chuckling) We were joking that we needed to poke her in the eye before every game,” said Barry, with smile in her eye.

Barry also had high praise for three players coming off the bench, including Kaitlyn Darner, who plays almost as many minutes as the starters in most games, and Diane McGlamery and Gracie Lawrence.

“We really needed them tonight to fill in for Scheffler when she was out and also because Laurel Kiker was in foul trouble early. They all did a great job,” said Barry.

Three Pioneers scored in double figures. In addition to Scheffler’s game-high 22, point guard Kate Sears rolled up 17 without hardly touching the floor in the final period. Watauga’s other reliable offensive producer, Torgerson, finished the night with 15 points, including a trio of 3-pointers. As a team, the Pioneers were a respectable 7-of-11 from the foul line.

Barry also had special notes about the development of Farthing and Scheffler in making the transition from volleyball to basketball and how they are both now rounding into form.

“It is not getting into basketball shape, physically,” said Barry, noting that both are very fit athletes. “It is more of getting into the basketball skill and proficiency. Farthing, for example, some of her reads and what she is seeing with the ball in her hands is so much better than where I thought she would be at this point. She is a senior, making plays for us.”

Looking ahead at the next (Jan. 10) conference matchup against Alexander Central (12-0 in their non-conference schedule to open the season, Barry was quick to note, “I am really interested in seeing how Alexander Central’s opening game against Ashe County turned out. AC is very coached and we know who they have back. We don’t know as much about their new point guard. But they can shoot it. They are well coached. And they will be executing on offense. It will be interesting to see how they guard us because they have some good players.”

Watauga’s Jan. 10 game against Alexander Central is on the road, in Taylorsville, and tentatively scheduled to tipoff just after 6 p.m., after the junior varsity men’s game in the Cougar gym.

SCORING SUMMARY

• WAT Brooke Scheffler (22)
• SCA Lillie Bumgarner (20)
• WAT Kate Sears (17)
• WAT Charlotte Torgerson (15)
• WAT Caroline Farthing (4)
• SCA Addison Edwards (4)
• SCA Kaylee Anderson (4)
• SCA Kristin Barber (4)
• WAT Julie Matheson (2)
• SCA Landrie Smith (2)

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Not one. Not two. But THREE High Country volleyball players were named to a prominent “All State” team this week, including Watauga seniors Caroline Farthing and Brooke Scheffler, as well as Ashe County junior Paige Overcash. Even more noteworthy for this region? All three earned HighSchoolOT.com “First Team” all-state designations.

HighSchoolOT.com is an operating unit of WRAL, an NBC News television affiliate, based in Raleigh. HighSchoolOT focuses on high school athletics throughout the state, reporting not just scores and standings but also compiles statistical data and develops “all state” teams annually in football, baseball, basketball, volleyball, soccer, softball and other high school sports. This is the third year HSOT has published a high school volleyball poll, consisting of a First Team, Second Team, Third Team, and Honorable Mention lists.

With 559 kills, 49 service aces, 27 blocked shots and 343 digs, Watauga’s Farthing certainly demonstrated her versatility as both an outside hitter and strong defensive player during the 2022 season. In 2023, she remains close to home as an Appalachian State volleyball recruit.

Scheffler gained acclaim in her freshman, sophomore and junior years as an outside hitter and middle blocker, but proved a dynamic lynchpin to Watauga’s 2022 season success as a setter, as well as an outside hitter when the situation called for it. Her senior year, she racked up 418 kills, 21 service aces, 56 blocked shots, and 493 assists in her different Pioneer roles. She has committed to play for Furman University in college.

High Country high school volleyball enthusiasts get to enjoy Overcash’s athletic performances for another year because even though she earned First Team All-State recognition and appears headed for Liberty University to play after graduation, she is still only a junior. In 2022, she racked up 408 kills, 40 service aces, 23 blocked shots, and 173 digs as primarily an outside hitter for Ashe County.

North Carolina high school athletics is currently divided into six classifications, including small school 1A and 2A, 3A, and large school 4A comprised primarily of public high schools. Private, independent school classifications include NCISAA 3A and NCISAA 4A classes.

HighSchoolOT statewide rankings for the 2022 season have Watauga at No. 14 after going 23-3 on the season and well into the playoffs.  HSOT also ranks teams within specific area codes and in “828”, Watauga is ranked No. 2 behind Asheville Christian. In “336,” Ashe County is ranked No. 6.

 

By David Rogers. LEXINGTON, N.C. — With nary a wink nor a nod, Watauga’s women’s basketball team stormed past Central Davidson on Jan 3, leading from start to finish and building to a dominant, 50-39 win.

Sophomore Kate Sears scored exactly half of the Pioneers points but her offensive production was only part of the story as Watauga continued on its winning way with a full team effort. As they whipped the ball around court, it was obvious that the teammate credited with the scoring mattered little. When Sears herself was not on the front end of an assist in finding the open player, it was Laurel Kiker, Charlotte Torgerson, Caroline Farthing, Brooke Scheffler or any of the other Pioneers finding an open Sears on the perimeter or driving the lane for the layup.

To go with Sears’ 25, Scheffler (9), Farthing (8), Kiker (5) and Torgerson (3) added the rest.

Watauga’s early week contest against the Spartans was a fitting cap to a challenging, non-conference schedule in which the Pioneers went 9-4. They opened with a nervous loss to Shelby, and lost three others to Lake Norman, Charlotte Catholic — both 4A North Carolina powerhouse programs — and to a loaded Atlanta-based Westminster. But they also had some huge wins against western NC rivals, too, like Charlotte-base Myers Park and Chambers, perennial 4A contender R J Reynolds (Winston-Salem), as well as mountain region powers A C Reynolds, Mountain Heritage, Avery County and Ashe County. In the first round of the Cherokee tournament, they sent Huntsville, Ala.’s Lee High School Generals to a decisive surrender.

Now we see what a challenging non-conference schedule did to prepare the Pioneers for a demanding Northwestern Conference slate, beginning on Friday, Jan. 6, on the road at South Caldwell.

All six of the NWC members have winning records with the completion of the non-conference schedule. At 9-5, South Caldwell is at the bottom of the list. Last week’s High Country Holiday Classic finale may well prove the preview of a league championship game, with Watauga outlasting the Huskies of Ashe County, but an undefeated (12-0) Alexander Central team may have something to say about that when the Cougars host the Pioneers on Jan. 10, in Taylorsville. At 12-1 in its early slate, Hibriten will pose a threat, too, to anyone’s league championship ambitions and Freedom (8-4) is Watauga’s most consistently strong rival, year after year after year.

Watauga’s non-conference competition provided many lessons: what to do when the opposing defense focuses on stopping Sears; how and when others must step up; that the Pioneers can play outstanding basketball without their key playmaker on the court; that they can be resilient and come back from a lost game — or even can come back from a bad first half.

The non-conference chapter of the 2022-23 season is over, closed, and done with. Now it is time to roll up those Pioneer sleeves and get to work while having fun playing the game of basketball.

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — After Watauga jumped out to a 12-0 lead over Apex Friendship, many in Lentz Eggers Gym for the championship game of the High Country Holiday Classic thought the game would evolve as a runaway rather than the nail biter everyone expected. Those thoughts proved premature, because nail biter is exactly what fans got with the Patriots rallying, then surviving to defeat the Pioneers, 64-62.

And the outcome came down to the final seconds, including Pioneer junior forward Jackson Pryor’s poach of an Apex inbounds pass from near the Watauga basket and his immediate put-in for a score with just 12 seconds on the clock. That narrowed Watauga deficit from four to two, but the Pioneers were unable to capitalize any further.

Pioneer guard Grant Morrison tallied half of the team’s 14 first quarter points as they took a 14-7 lead to the quarter break, but the Patriots’ beginning to eat away at Watauga’s early commanding lead corresponded closely to Pryor being whistled for his second foul midway through the first quarter — and forced to sit for the rest of the first half. Without Pryor clogging up the middle, the Pioneers’ inside defense softened enough for Apex Friendship to rally.

Watauga’s advantage narrowed to just five, 31-26, at intermission, then Apex closed to within two points, 40-38, with not even half of the third quarter gone. Then then=y tied the game, 46-46, to start the fourth quarter.

From there, tensions rose. First one, then the other would jump out to a four or five point lead only to have the advantage quickly reeled in. It was that kind of game, a nail biter to be sure and an entertaining end to a well-run holiday season basketball tournament.

In the third place game serving as the finale’s curtain raiser, Ashe County nearly overcame a large early deficit against Pine Lake, but in the end the Pride defeated the Huskies, 59-57.

Morrison and Ashe County’s Jake Grubb were both voted by the coaches to the all-tournament team, while Apex Friendship’s Noah Toster was named tournament MVP.

Next up for Watauga is a road trip on Tuesday, Jan. 3, to Lexington, where they will take on Central Davidson. The Pioneers open Northwestern Conference play on Friday, Jan. 6, at South Caldwell. The game at Central Davidson is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., following the two teams’ women’s game, while the men are slated to tipoff at South Caldwell at 8 p.m.

SCORING SUMMARY

• APX Noah Toster (22)
• WAT Grant Morrison (21)
• WAT Jackson Pryor (17)
• APX Terry Hicks (12)
• WAT Wyatt Keller (11)
• APX Jadon Green (10)
• WAT Wyatt Kohout (8)
• APX Drew Weschler (8)
• WAT Maddox Greene (3)
• APX Aiden Neiger (3)
• WAT Josiah Railey (2)
• APX Chuks Ezeonu (2)

BONUS PHOTOS

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — A tentative start morphed into a convincing victory for Watauga in the championship game of the High Country Holiday Classic women’s division on Dec. 29. Led by sophomore point guard Kate Sears’ 40 points, the Pioneers worked their way to a 61-50 win over the Ashe County Huskies in Lentz Eggers Gym.

Ashe County took command early behind deadeye shooting by Abigail Jones and Abby Sheets, who together scored 15 of the Huskies first 21 points, propelling their team to a 21-16 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Pioneers caught up, but even at halftime intermission the score was 35-32 in favor of Watauga. And yet, Ashe County would never again lead. Three Huskies, however, scored in double figures, including Abigail Jones and Abby Sheets tying for team-high honors at 14 apiece, with Overcash right behind, with 13 points.

While Watauga women’s basketball fans are accustomed to seeing Sears emerge as a game-high leader in points scored, at least in most games, the Pioneer offensive attack is usually much more balanced. Partly that is because opposing teams know of Sears’ talents and versatility and focus on her at the expense of leaving Pioneer teammates open. On this night, Sears did little to change her modus operandi. She still attracted a crowd of opposing defenders and kicked the ball out, distributing it to open teammates. As a team, the Pioneers whipped the ball around the court, occasionally one or another would drive the lane and pass back out to the perimeter, to an open teammate. It’s just that most of their shots weren’t going in and Sears’ were. In short, she had the hot hand and has the ability to take full advantage from just about anywhere on the court.

Beyond Sears’ offensive production, there were other keys to this win:

• Brooke Scheffler drew the assignment as the primary defender against Ashe County’s Paige Overcash and did a remarkable job against the Huskies’ star, limiting her to just 13 points when Overcash’s season average is almost 19 points, according to statistics maintained by MaxPreps.com.
• The Pioneers dominated the boards on both ends of the court, with Sears and Scheffler joined by Caroline Farthing, Kaitlyn Darner and Charlotte Torgerson in rebounds, turning the ball up the court in transition after a defensive board or keeping the ball in play on the offensive end for second, third, and even fourth scoring opportunities/
• Yet another younger Pioneer is having an impact. In Round 1, it was sophomore Julie Matheson. In the championship game, it was junior forward Diane McGlamery weaving her way through traffic, collecting an errant shot, or finding the open teammate with a pass. She didn’t play an abundance of minutes but when she was on the floor giving one or more starters a needed breather, she made the most of the opportunity.

Sears earned tournament MVP honors for her performances on behalf of Watauga and fellow Pioneer Brooke Scheffler also was named to the All-Tournament team.

While the Dec. 29 matchup may well prove a pre-cursor to the battle for a Northwestern Conference championship in a couple of months, other NWC contenders may have something to say about that, too, including 12-0 Alexander Central, 11-1 Hibriten, 8-4 Freedom, and 9-5 South Caldwell.

After one more non-conference game at Central Davidson in Lexington on Tuesday, Jan. 3, the Pioneers go on the road Jan. 6 to open conference play at South Caldwell, in Hudson. They will also be on the road Jan. 10 in Taylorsville against Alexander Central, before their home opener in conference play vs. Hibriten on Jan. 13.

BONUS PHOTOS

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — A broad based scoring effort, disruptive defense and rebounding dominance on both ends of the court led to Watauga men’s basketball victory over Pine Lake Prep on Dec. 29, 79-62, in the semifinals of the High Country Holiday Classic hosted by the Pioneers in Lentz Eggers Gym.

Four Pioneers scored in double figures, led by power forward Jackson Pryor’s 21, with key contributions by Grant Morrison (18), Wyatt Keller (15) and Wyatt Kohout (14).

The Pioneers jumped out to a 20-10 lead by the end of the first quarter and never looked back.

Key Points:

• Jackson Pryor stayed out of foul trouble and was aggressive under the basket, especially on the offensive end. In short, Watauga’s most valuable inside asset was able to stay on the floor.
• The two Wyatt’s Kohout and Keller, quickly recognized and took command of their opportunities, whether shooting from outside (together they accounted for five 3-pointers) or inside, driving down the lane or along the baseline to the basket.
• Improved free throw shooting (9-of-13).
• Critical rebounding on the offensive end to give the Pioneers multiple chances after errant shots.
• Pesky defense by Watauga kept Pine Lake off balance and forced turnovers.

With win, Watauga advances to the tournament championship final on Dec. 30 against the other semifinal winner, Apex Friendship, a dominant, 71-36 winner over Ashe County in the earlier semifinal. In Apex Friendship, Watauga will take on a 6-4 Patriots team that has already started league play in a strong, 4A conference that also includes Green Level, Holly Springs, Panther Creek, Green Hope, Cary, and Middle Creek.

Apex Friendship is led by Jake Grubb, who scored 24 points against Ashe County while also leading the team in assists and steals.

The men’s division championship game is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 30, at Lentz Eggers Gym.

Bonus Photos

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Doubling up on a basketball opponent is one thing. Tripling their offensive output is quite another. Watauga outmatched Forbush on Dec. 28, 73-24.

Freshman guard Cade Keller came off the bench to record a game-high 15 points for Watauga against the Falcons on Dec. 28, in Round 1 of the High Country Holiday Classic. The Pioneers got offensive production from no less than 10 rostered players. In addition to Keller, Jackson Pryor (11 points), Grant Morrison (10) and Morgan Henry (10) made it to double figures as a lot of Watauga players saw court time against the outmanned Falcons.

Watauga started off with a 29-9 first quarter, led by 9 points from Morrison and 7 from Pryor, and kept their pedal to the proverbial metal to a 54-16 lead at intermission, then largely cruised through the second half. All totaled, the Pioneers made seven 3-pointers on the night and strong inside play to overcome 60 percent shooting from the foul line (12-of-20).

Even though Forbush had six players get into the scoring column, the Falcons had few answers for the Pioneers at either end of the court.

With the win, Watauga will take on Pine Lake in the tournament’s second semifinal matchup on Dec. 29, with a planned 7:30 tipoff. In the first men’s semifinal, Ashe County meets Apex Friendship at 6 p.m.

SCORING SUMMARY

• WAT Cade Keller (15)
• WAT Jackson Pryor (11)
• WAT Grant Morrison (10)
• WAT Morgan Henry (10)
• WAT Wyatt Keller (8)
• FOR Pierce Sprague (6)
• WAT Cole Horine (5)
• WAT Wyatt Kohout (5)
• FOR Jacob Boyles (5)
• FOR Gavin Maines (5)
• FOR Josh Brown (4)
• WAT Davis Hunt (3)
• WAT Maddox Greene (3)
• WAT Matthew Habich (3)
• FOR C J Boyd (2)
• FOR Cody Thompson (2)

 

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — When two basketball teams with decisively winning records meet in Round 1 of an early tournament, you might expect a nail biter of a contest. The Dec. 28 matchup between the Watauga women’s team and R.J. Reynolds in Round 1 of the High Country Holiday Classic was anything but. Watauga leveraged a 25-5 first quarter run to dominate the visiting Demons, en route to a more than convincing, 67-37 victory.

The Pioneer win sets up a much anticipated High Country rivalry game for the tournament title on Dec. 29, between Watauga and Ashe County. Tipoff for the women’s championship game is set for 4:30 p.m. in Lentz Eggers Gym.

Against Reynolds, Watauga’s Julie Matheson, Charlotte Torgerson and Caroline Farthing combined for five 3-pointers in just the first quarter to propel the Pioneers to a commanding lead. Then they doubled up the Demons, 20-10, in the second period, with six Pioneers getting in on the scoring action. Sophomore point guard Kate Sears led the way with 6 points in the second quarter, but the Pioneers also got contributions from Matheson (2 points), Brooke Scheffler (3), Laurel Kiker (2), Kaitlyn Darner (2), and Torgerson (5) to complete the pre-intermission scoring.

In short, the Demons were demonized by the hot-handed Watauga scoring outburst, as well as the Pioneers’ pressing, disruptive defense. Scheffler drew the challenging assignment of guarding Reynolds’ 6-3 center Raniyah Hocutt, limiting the senior to just 16 points (team high) as the Demons tried to take advantage by feeding her inside.

Overall, only four Demons made it into the scoring column, led by Hocutt and Thompson, while Watauga got offensive production from eight Pioneers.

The Dec. 29 championship matchup between the Watauga women and Ashe County promises to intensify the regional rivalry. The Pioneers bring an 8-4 record into the contest, while the Huskies will be trying to build on their early season, 8-2 record. The tournament tilt matches two of the favored contenders for the Northwestern Conference title, with league play set to start shortly after New Year’s Day.

SCORING SUMMARY

• WAT Kate Sears (19)
• RJR Raniyah Hocutt (16)
• WAT Charlotte Torgerson (13)
• RJR Destiny Thompson (13)
• WAT Julie Matheson (10)
• WAT Caroline Farthing (8)
• WAT Brooke Scheffler (7)
• WAT Laurel Kiker (4)
• WAT Kaitlyn Darner (4)
• WAT Diane McGlamery (2)

BONUS PHOTOS

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Surviving a rain of 13 three-pointers by Hickory Christian, the Pine Lake Prep Pride used strong inside play led by 6-4 junior Lucas Strickfaden team-high 23 points to defeat the Knights, 86-69, on Dec. 28 in Round 1 of the High Country Holiday Classic hosted by Watauga High School.

Strickfaden was joined in double figures on the afternoon by 6-5 junior small forward Robert Magner (13 points) and junior shooting guard Brennan Greene (12).

The Knights fell behind, 20-10, by the end of the first quarter and could never catch up, despite outscoring the Pride in the second and fourth periods. Pine Lake caught fire in the third quarter on a 26-11 run to put the game in spite of a combined, 17-point effort from Hickory Christian senior guard Zavien Dillingham and 6-5 junior guard Levi Robinson.

The Pride was not without long-range firepower of their own, with eight 3-pointers augmenting the inside play of Strickfaden and Magner, including three from Greene and two each from Magner and point guard Ethan Morgan.

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — It wasn’t the Hatfields and McCoys but a basketball battle between two neighboring counties — in different states — came down to the final seconds on Dec. 28 at Lentz Eggers Gym. In the end, the High Country’s Ashe County edged eastern Tennessee’s Johnson County, 59-57, midway through the first day of the High Country Holiday Classic.

The Huskies’ senior guard Jake Grubb poured in a game-high 21 points but it was seven fourth quarter points from fellow senior Austin Grogan and four each from junior guard Eli Lemley and Bryce Peters in the final period that proved major difference makers, as well as five from Grubb in the last stanza. With the broad-sourced scoring by Ashe County in the second half, the Huskies rallied from a 13-point deficit at intermission (36-23) to tie the game at 50-50 with just 2:40 to go in the game, then kept going to claim the win.

Johnson County jumped out to a dominant first half lead with tenacious defense and hot handed early scoring by Eli Dickens, Skylar Lawson, Graham Reece and Austin West.

With eight 3-pointers in the first quarter — four by Reece — Johnson County was able to overcome Ashe County’s height advantage in the early going. All of West’s nine points for the game came in the first quarter, in the form of three shots from beyond the 3-point arc.

The pivotal fourth quarter proved too much for the Mountain City team, as Ashe County used its height advantage to better effect, rebounding, and a pressing defense forced Johnson County turnovers.